Fire Roasted Garlicky Oysters Recipes

FIRE BAKED OYSTERS

Steps:

• Preheat a grill or brick oven for high heat indirect cooking (around 450F).
• Add a cast iron sauce pan to preheat over the direct heat for 1 minute. Add the butter to the skillet to melt then add the chopped shallots. Stir for 30 seconds, then add the rest of the ingredients for the butter sauce. Let simmer for 20 seconds, then pull off heat to let cool for 1 minute.
• Mix together the ingredients for the crust. Add rock salt to the base of a cast iron skillet, and place the shucked oysters on top. Top each oyster for a spoonful of the butter sauce along with a dollop of the crust mixture. Do not worry if the crust mixture covers all the oyster.
• Place the cast iron on to your grill/oven on the cool indirect cooking side. Bake the oysters for 1-2 minutes until the crust on top is golden brown. Once done, pull them off and let cool for 2-3 minutes.
• Once cooled down, eat and enjoy!

OVEN-ROASTED OYSTERS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 475 degrees. Working in batches, arrange oysters in a single layer in a 12-by-16-inch roasting pan fitted with a flat rack. Pour 1/3. inch of hot tap water into pan, and bake for 7 minutes, or until oyster shells have begun to open.
• Using gloves or tongs, transfer oysters to a table covered in newspaper for guests to shuck, garnish and eat while next batch cooks. Add water to pan as necessary, and repeat roasting until all oysters have been served, about 45 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges hot sauce, and sour orange mignonette.

CHAR-GRILLED OYSTERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place oysters in a baking pan, flat-side up.
• Stir butter, sriracha sauce, garlic, green onions, cilantro, and lime juice together in a bowl.
• Bake oysters in the preheated oven until they open slightly, about 10 minutes.
• Remove the top shell of the oysters using a towel and an oyster knife, being careful not to spill the liquor. Gently cut the muscles that attach the oysters to the shell.
• Divide the butter mixture among the oysters, placing a dollop on each. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.
• Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler.
• Broil oysters in the preheated oven until butter melts and Parmesan cheese is golden brown, about 5 minutes.

SMOKED OXTAILS WITH FIRE-ROASTED GARLIC, PEPPERS AND ONIONS OVER SMOKED GOUDA GRITS

Steps:

• Slather the oxtails in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.
• Mix the coarse kosher salt, coarsely ground black pepper, granulated garlic, granulated onion, five-spice, Big Lee's Sweet Heat, curry powder and paprika in a small bowl.
• Generously apply the dry rub to all sides of the oxtails. Cover and allow to dry brine in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• Set up your smoker following the manufacturer's instructions and heat to 200 degrees F. Add applewood or hickory wood as specified by the manufacturer. Alternatively, set up a charcoal grill for smoking following the manufacturer's instructions and heat to 200 degrees F.
• Place the oxtails in a large aluminum baking pan in the smoker on the indirect side (farthest from the fire box or heat source) and smoke for 2 hours.
• Increase the smoker temperature to 300 degrees F and smoke until the oxtails are a beautiful, glistening, mahogany color and there is some rendered fat in the bottom of the pan, 2 hours more.
• Now, it's time to break down the oxtails' muscle fibers, while still retaining high levels of moisture. Remove the pan from the smoker, cover with aluminum foil and tightly seal the edges. Smoke until the meat is tender and easily pulls away from the bone, 2 hours more. If the meat doesn't easily pull away from the bone, rewrap the pan and smoke for 1 hour more.
• Remove the oxtails from the smoker and allow them to rest for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, place the Fresnos on a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil to coat, sprinkle with salt and wrap in the foil. Repeat with the jalapeños, garlic and onion, using 3 separate sheets of foil. Place the wrapped Fresnos, jalapeños, garlic and onion in the smoker's firebox. If using a charcoal grill, remove the grill grate and place the wrapped vegetables in the coals. Cook until softened, 5 to 10 minutes. Check frequently, as they can burn quickly.
• Transfer the vegetables to a work surface. Discard the foil. Pick up the garlic with long grilling tongs and hold over the smoker's fire or grill's coals until it develops a good char, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board. Repeat with the Fresnos, jalapeños and onion, 7 to 10 minutes each. Let rest for 5 minutes.
• Combine the milk, grits, butter, smoked sea salt and 1 1/2 cups water in medium saucepan. Place the saucepan on a burner over medium-low heat and bring to a very slow simmer, whisking occasionally. Cover and cook, whisking occasionally to prevent lumps and sticking to the bottom of the pot, until the grits thicken, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the grits from the heat and gently fold in the gouda until softened and slightly melted.
• Scoop the grits into 2 bowls. Pull the meat off of the oxtail bones with a fork and place on top of the grits.
• To deseed the Fresnos and jalapeños, cut them in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with the back of a chef's knife. Thinly slice the peppers crosswise. Thinly slice the roasted garlic. Peel the onion, cut it in half, then thinly slice it.
• Divide the Fresnos, jalapeños, Fresnos, garlic, onions and chives between the bowls. Top each dish with the zest of half of the lemon and a squirt of lemon juice.

FIRE ROASTED OYSTERS

Steps:

• For the sesame aioli: Soak the hijiki in warm water for 5 minutes. Drain, chop and set aside.
• Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger, jalapeno, and shallots to the oil and saute until they soften, about 45 seconds. Make sure you don't brown the ingredients. Next, add the soy sauce, mirin and rice wine vinegar. Turn the heat up to a boil, and reduce by half, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
• In a bowl, add the mayonnaise, hijiki and the reduced soy sauce mixture. Stir until combined. Then, slowly add the sesame oil while stirring. Yield: 1 1/2 cups.
• For the oysters: Heat the lap cheong in a saute pan over medium heat until it is slightly rendered, about 1 minute. Remove the lap cheong from the pan and dice.
• Next, add the olive oil, garlic and shallots to the saute pan and cook over medium heat until they're nice and toasty, about 1 minute. Make sure you don't brown the garlic and shallots. Then add the spinach and cook until it is lightly wilted. Remove the spinach from the heat and allow to cool. Finish with salt and pepper to taste.
• Preheat a grill to medium heat.
• Wash, scrub and shuck your oysters. Remove the oysters from the shells and fill the shells with sauteed spinach. Place the oysters on top of the spinach. Then top each of the oysters with more sauteed spinach, some sesame aioli and lap cheong.
• Put the oysters on the grill, close the lid and within 5 minutes they will be ready to eat.
• To plate, place some salad on a platter, such as mizuna, a Chinese lettuce. Then, set the 12 oysters on top of the salad and garnish with lemon wedges.